Hispanic Community Outreach Program Surpasses 2014 Goals

Roswell Park’s Esperanza y Vida program, which means “Hope and Life” in Spanish, enjoys continued success at improving communication and access to healthcare, key cancer screenings in particular, for Western New York’s Hispanic community. Over the last year, Esperanza y Vida, which holds health education sessions and facilitates screening services, educated 721 people and helped 318 undergo medical screenings — representing totals that went above and beyond the program’s 500-persons-reached and 200-screened goals.

In many Hispanic communities, Latina women don’t undergo routine health exams and testing such as clinical breast and pelvic examinations, mammograms and diabetes testing. Latino men don’t typically get tested for diabetes, either. As a result, Hispanic women face higher mortality from breast and cervical cancer than non-Hispanic women. And both Hispanic men and women are 50% more likely to die from diabetes.

Esperanza y Vida was created at Roswell Park in 2007 to help reduce mortality in the Hispanic community through education and outreach. Response has been dramatic. Within eight months after the program’s initial education session, participants’ mammography screening rates increased 95.6%. The program’s work to save lives through early detection have been made possible by Univera Healthcare, which is donating $95,000 over three years.